Police: Allegations in city mower death inconclusive

By Peter Salter, Lincoln Journal Star, May 6, 2011

The months-long police investigation into last year’s lawn mower death of a city worker is done, delivered — and largely inconclusive.  And it will likely do nothing to quell complaints that the city’s street maintenance department fosters fear, intimidation and unsafe practices.

“When an investigation about whether they protected employees from safety hazards comes back inconclusive, it doesn’t speak well about the management of the organization,” said Gary Young, attorney for the union representing the city’s blue-collar workers.

Young called the street maintenance department “the worst-managed division of any public employer” of the unions he represents.  ”The accident that happened, if it’s going to happen, this is where it’s going to take place.”

On Aug. 16, Eric Kohles was found crushed by a 1,200-pound riding mower at the bottom of a grassy ditch.  The 37-year-old worked for the city’s storm water division but had been helping mow that day — first near 56th and Sumner streets, and, after lunch, near 56th and Seward in northeast Lincoln.
The husband and father died four days later.

The next week, nearly a dozen street maintenance employees filed a grievance against their supervisors, alleging Kohles was told to mow an unsafe area with an unsafe mower he’d never used before.  They also said they’d warned supervisors about the mower and they’d been punished and humiliated for raising concerns.

They sought a third-party investigation of the accident and in early November — after the Public Works Department’s own probe proved inconclusive — the mayor asked the police to look into the complaints.
An internal affairs detective spent about 80 hours on the assignment, focusing only on complaints in the grievance. He interviewed 18 workers and managers, pored over records, checked aerial photos and weather data.

“All we could conclude was that no supervisor told Eric to mow that ditch with that mower, and that he had never received training on that mower,” Police Chief Tom Casady said.  The investigation found no evidence to conclude Kohles was told to mow with the Heckendorn. He was told to drive the pickup pulling the mower, and he beat his foreman to the site, Casady said. “It looks to me that Eric wasn’t the kind of guy who would stand around waiting for his foreman. He unpacked his equipment and went to work,” Casady said.

An experienced supervisor would have likely prevented the riding mower from mowing the steep slope of the ditch.  There’s little flat ground at the site, so it’s not clear why Kohles was sent there hauling the Heckendorn, Young said.  ”Why was it sent there? Because the management of that department failed to protect against it being sent there. And the person they assigned to use it was inexperienced and didn’t know better. Why they sent it there, I don’t know.”

The police also couldn’t prove employees warned street maintenance director Scott Opfer about the mower in 2008 — or that employees were punished for raising safety concerns.  The workers said they raised concerns about two mowers; Opfer told the investigator he was told about a Toro boom mower and had it checked out, but couldn’t recall warnings about the Heckendorn, Casady said.

Union members also told investigators two workers were forced to cut the shop yard’s grass with push mowers under a hot sun in September 2008. Casady said his department compared mower records with weather data — and found no evidence of the allegation.  And Casady made it clear: Just because his department couldn’t prove an allegation, it wasn’t ruling it out, either. It’s simply inconclusive.

That’s not good enough for Young, the union lawyer. The standard of proof they required decided the matter before it started,” he said.

Multiple employees gave accounts substantiating the grievance, Young said. For example, employees witnessed and reported the alleged push-mower punishment.  The police department should have considered a preponderance of evidence, but the chief set the bar too high.  ”When employees testify and that’s not enough, then you can’t prove anything.”

Casady said his department used the same standard as in all internal affairs investigations: An allegation must be conclusively proven to be sustained.  ”In my book, 51 percent doesn’t cut it when people’s jobs or careers could be on the line, whether it is a laborer, a manager or anything in between.”

With the investigation done, the Public Works Department now must decide whether to grant the grievance — and remove several supervisors from managing employees, as requested by the union — or reject it. Public Works Director Greg MacLean could not be reached for comment Thursday.  Then the union will decide its next step, which includes appealing a rejection to the city personnel board.

Casady did recommend the Public Works Department’s safety committee review the department’s training requirements, which he called “a bit iffy.”  Some equipment — graders and snowplows, for instance — require training. But it’s not as formal for smaller pieces, like riding mowers.  Public works should determine the equipment and tools that require training and then keep records of trained employees, the chief said.

“At the police department, you don’t get a rifle, a pistol, a Taser or a nightstick until you get trained.

If you or a loved one have been injured due to a defective product, call the Keating O’Gara Law Firm at 888/234-5621.

BAKERSFIELD – A New Jersey importer of Chinese-made tires is asking the federal government for help in recalling almost half a million defective tires that may have already contributed to one death.

The tire recall follows other major recalls of Chinese-made products, including pet food, toothpaste, and toy trains, prompting widespread consumer concerns.

Now consumer groups wonder if Chinese-made products are safe, given the recalls made in recent months.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration said a New Jersey company—Foreign Tire Sales—has announced a recall of at least 450,000 tires made in China, although who is going to pay for the recall and tire replacements remains in question.

The defective tires, used on light trucks and SUV’s, have been sold under the names of Westlake, Telluride, Compass and YKS.

Lawyers are blaming the tires for a fatal accident last year near Philadelphia.

“Check your tires,” said Jeffery Killino, a lawyer for accident victims. “Make sure that you’re not riding on these tires!”

This tire recall follows several other recent recalls of Chinese-made products, including toothpaste containing a poisonous chemical, contaminated pet food, and Thomas the Train Engine toys decorated with lead paint.

If you or a loved one have been injured due to the negligence of another, please call Keating, O’Gara, Nedved & Peter at 888/234-0621 or fill out the contact form on this site. Your first consultation is free and we handle cases on a contingency fee basis.